


Inverted

by TheEruditeGrammacist



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: A Darkness Approaches, Darkness, F/F, It's a thing- Freeform, It's named Dipper, M/M, Mental Abuse, Mind Control, One-Sided Attraction, Other, Reverse Pines, Sadistic Dipper, Simantrophobia, Simantrophobia is the fear of bells btw, Telekinesis, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-14
Updated: 2015-07-12
Packaged: 2018-03-30 11:43:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3935554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEruditeGrammacist/pseuds/TheEruditeGrammacist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cousins Gideon Pines and Pacifica Northwest go to spend the summer in Gravity Falls, Oregon with Gideon's father, Bud Pines, much to Gideon's chagrin. He believes the town to be nothing more than a pathetic waste of space and one big tourist trap, much like the "Mystery Shack" that he and his cousin will be spending the summer living in. Not to mention he hates the town for a reason more personal than he lets on. However, he makes a discovery that may not only turn his life back around, but also draws the attention of a certain pair of telepaths...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

The bus pulled away from its stop in the small town of Gravity Falls, Oregon, leaving behind a pair of 15-year-olds. The teens in question looked around, one with an air of excitement, and her companion with a gaze that seemed more frustrated.

“Isn’t this exciting?” the more optimistic of the pair grabbed her cousin’s wrist and practically jumped up and down in her excitement.

“Define ‘exciting’” the shorter and decidedly less enthusiastic teenager responded in a southern drawl. His cousin pouted.

“Come on, Gideon.” She said, sitting down on the bench. “You’re getting to visit your dad! This is great!” Gideon gave no response. “C’mon, Giddy. Give me something to work with here.”

Gideon sighed and turned to face his cousin. “Pacifica, I know you’re trying to make me feel better, and thanks for that, but it’s making me feel worse, so please stop.” Pacifica looked like she was about to protest, but he interrupted her. “No, Pacifica, listen. You know as well as I do why I’m not thrilled to see my dad again.”

“I wasn‘t there when it happened…” Pacifica started, but Gideon cut her off.

“No, but you heard plenty about it. And besides, that’s why you’re excited to see him, you didn’t have to experience firsthand…” he trailed off, not wanting to talk about the events leading to his parents’ divorce. The lies, the secrecy, then the fight that had decided it… No. Best not to dwell on it. Still, spending the summer here, with his dad, would probably bring back the memories that he had tried so hard to suppress…

Well, he could ignore the past for a while longer, right?

A car pulled up at the bus stop, shaking Gideon from his reverie. Sitting at the wheel was a large man wearing a suit and a fez with a strange symbol on it. Gideon sighed. “Hi, dad.” He greeted.

“Hi, Uncle Bud!” Pacifica chirped.

“Why, hello, you two.” Bud smiled at the both of them. “Pacifica, you sure have grown into a mighty pretty young lady! And Gideon,” he laughed, “As short and round as ever, I see! Not that I can talk much…” he trailed off, smiling and patting his own large abdomen, before starting the car up and heading down the road to the Mystery Shack. Gideon put his head against the window, his ratty brown cap smashing awkwardly as he did so, and sighed. This was going to be a long summer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the shortness of the chapter, the next update will be longer. This is really more of a prologue than a first chapter. I will try to update this every Wednesday, but due to past experience, I may miss a few updates. I will, however, do my best.
> 
> Side note: I have a bad habit of mixing up "Pines" and "Gleeful" while I'm writing reverse pines, so if you see me do it please point it out. No other name changes will be made, Pacifica is still Northwest (because if I tried calling her Southeast I KNOW I would mess up every time) but if you catch a Mabel or Dipper Pines, or a Gideon or Bud Gleeful, please notify me so that I can fix it.


	2. Journals

A very long summer, indeed. Bud’s house, a dilapidated old place that he’d converted into a tourist trap, was in even worse shape than last time Gideon had seen his dad. Memories started to trickle into his mind again, and he hurriedly suppressed them as he had become so accustomed to doing. He’d rather think of anything than… that. He turned his attention back to the shack. Or rather, the Mystery Shack, as Bud called it, where the only real mysteries were why anyone even came there, or how the place hadn’t already collapsed on itself.

Pacifica, of course, loved it all. She burst into the attic bedroom that they would be sharing and jumped onto her bed, already unpacking furiously. Gideon threw his bags down and lay back on the bed, contemplating how bad living/working at the Shack all summer could possibly be. 

So far, he wasn’t too hopeful.

Gideon was shaken out of his self-pitying reverie by something soft colliding with his face; Pacifica had thrown one of her numerous sweaters at him. Looking over at her, he saw that she had donned her favorite sweater, a shaggy yellow one with the image of a llama on it she had made to match with the golden llama earrings that she never took off.

“What?” Gideon whined and rolled over to face the wall. Another sweater hit him in the back of the head.

“Come on, Giddy. You’ve done nothing but mope since we got on the bus. Why can’t you just give this a chance? We could go explore the forest, I know you’d like that. Don’t even try to deny it.”

Gideon rolled his eyes, but at the same time smiled faintly. She certainly knew him, he definitely wanted to, but he’d been too stubborn to admit it himself.

“Fine.” He said, admitting defeat. Pacifica squealed and jumped off of her bed, grabbed his arm, and dragged him down the stairs. 

They were making their way through the gift shop when Bud called out to them, asking where they were going. He smiled when Pacifica told him they were going to the forest, and reached behind a shelf to pull out some signs.

“While y’all are out, could ya do me a favor and hang these signs up? Just nail ‘em to trees, pointin’ in this direction. Thanks, knew I could count on y’all.” He dropped the signs, as well as a hammer and nails, into Gideon’s arms and moving to greet a group of tourists that had just arrived. “Welcome to the Mystery Shack, folks! Wonders and amazement lay just beyond that door, and you can witness them firsthand for the low, low price of only ten dollars a person! Gaze in astonishment…” his voice trailed off as he led his victims to their wallets’ doom.

“Great.” Gideon muttered darkly. “Pacifica, could you help me carry thin?” he implored, struggling to carry the bulky signs. 

“Sure!” Pacifica chirped. She snatched up the hammer and nails, the only things he was actually managing to carry successfully and bounded out the door.

“That’s not what I meant!” he called after her.

“I know!” she smirked at him over her shoulder and disappeared into the woods. Gideon grumbled and trudged after her.

He finally caught up to her about a minute later, as she was happily pounding a nail into a tree. “I’ve already put nails in those, slowpoke.” She said, indicating a few trees which did indeed have nails protruding from their bark. Gideon hung a sign from each, telling anyone who happened to see the about the “wonders and amazement” that awaited at the Mystery Shack.

They carried on like that for a while, Pacifica whacking a nail into a solid-looking tree, and Gideon hanging up a sign. Nothing of any interest happened, and just as Gideon was about to complain loudly about being bored, a hollow, metallic “CLANG!” rang through the air. Gideon looked up, startled. Pacifica was staring at the mossy tree in front of her, a look of confusion on her face.

“What the heck?” she asked, hitting the tree again with the hammer. The same hollow sound rang out again. Gideon dropped the remaining signs and put his hand against the tree. The “bark” felt cold and metallic against his palm. He ran his hand along its surface, a leaving a trail in the dust that should not have been there, had it been a normal tree. He exchanged an apprehensive glance with Pacifica before finding the edge of what turned out to be a metal door, painted in perfect camouflage with the bark, and opened it to reveal a cobweb-covered device about the size and shape of a toaster oven.

“What in the world id that?” Pacifica asked, peering at the device over Gideon’s shoulder. He shrugged and began fiddling with one of the switches. “Hey, be careful! You don’t know what that thing does!” she warned.

Gideon rolled his eyes and laughed, “Look how old it is, Pacifica. I doubt the thing even works any mo-…” he was cut off by a mechanical whirring noise that sounded from behind them as soon as Gideon touched the left switch.

“You were saying?” Pacifica smirked. Gideon glared at her, and they both looked into a rectangular pit that appeared. Laying inside was a book, with a thick layer of dust obscuring the six-fingered hand on the front cover. Gideon and Pacifica glanced at each other, then Gideon reached in and pulled it out. He gently blew the dust and cobwebs off it, revealing a number “3” printed in neat penmanship on the now-shiny design. He opened it up to look at the inside of the front cover, and saw “Property of” with the name too faded to read. He turned the page.

“It’s hard to believe it’s been six years since I began studying the strange and wondrous secrets of Gravity Falls, Oregon!” Gideon read aloud in amazement. He flipped through the pages, coming across entries for all kinds of strange and impossible creatures, ranging from floating eyeballs to cursed doors. 

“Look! Gnomes!” Pacifica squealed. “Awww, that drawing is adorable!” 

Gideon flipped to the last entry, a page with a circular chart-looking drawing. He read aloud, “Unfortunately, my suspicions have been confirmed. I am being watched. I must hide this journal before He finds it. Remember, in Gravity Falls, there is no one you can trust. No one you can trust…” he trailed off. “Pacifica, do you realize what this means?”

“Uh…” she began, but before she could finish her thought, a loud explosion sounded from not far away. “What was that? Ooh! Let’s go investigate!”

And Gideon was dragged in the direction of the noise, clutching the journal securely against his chest.

 

Not far away, two teal-clad figures stood looking at the remains of what had once been a large boulder obscuring the entrance to a small cave.

“Not bad.” Dipper said, eyeing his twin sister’s work with an air of disinterest. Mabel scoffed.

“Not bad? Please. Like you could do better.” She muttered, causing Dipper to glare at her. “Whatever. Let’s just get this over with.” She strolled into the cave, Dipper, pulling out a red journal with a golden, six-fingered hand adorned with the number “2” marking its front, followed.

Mabel’s eyes flashed from their normal brown to the same teal as their clothes, a telltale sign that she was using her amulet, and a floating ball of fire appeared in front of her. Dipper glared at the fireball in distaste, but didn't comment on it. He thought back to Mabel’s earlier comment about his magical prowess. Much as it killed him to admit it (and he wouldn't admit it out loud), she was right; she was better at using her amulet than he was. Much better. At first he thought her amulet was just more powerful than his, and had demanded that they switch, but when that yielded no results he was forced to conclude that this was simply something else that she was better at than he. First, she was taller (by one millimeter!) then she was faster, stronger, and popular. And then she had to be better at magic.

It was infuriating. Dipper almost regretted giving her an amulet in the first place. Almost, as having a telepathic twin did have its advantages.

“So, where exactly is it supposed to be?” Mabel asked, boredly surveying the small cave, illuminated by her magic torch. Dipper flipped to the page in the journal about possible hiding places.

“If it’s here at all, it’ll be on a large, flat rock in the back.” He said. He located said rock, only to be met with disappointment. “And it looks like it is not.” He pulled out a pen and crossed the cave off as a possible location. “Shit. And after we sent three hours looking for this cave, too.” Mabel sighed exasperatedly at this. “What.” He all but growled.

“Nothing.” She responded curtly, turning to walk away. Dipper’s eyes flashed teal and Mabel was suddenly held back by a glowing teal aura.

“Tell me.” He hissed.

Mabel turned to face him, her floating fireball dissipating and leaving only the glow from their amulets to illuminate the cave. “Dipper, I don’t think I ‘ve seen you go ten minutes without pulling out that stupid journal since you found it four years ago. And in the past two months of searching for the other one, you have had literally no luck. Is it really, I don’t know, worth it? Is finding the first journal really worth all of this effort?”

Dipper’s eyes widened before flashing dangerously. “Is it worth it?” he snarled. “Mabel, once I find Journal 1, and combine its power and knowledge with Journal 2, I’ll have-…”

“Full knowledge of the supernatural, gateway to unimaginable power, yada yada yada. I got the memo.” Mabel said lazily.

“So what are you saying?” Dipper hissed.

“I’m saying you can find that stupid journal on your own. I’m not wasting my life in some pointless exercise in futility.” Mabel sneered. “I’m leaving.”

She began to walk toward the mouth of the cave, but stopped when Dipper said softly, “No. You aren’t allowed to do that.”

“Is that so?” Mabel retorted. “And just how are you going to make me?”

Dipper didn’t respond. Instead, a small, malicious grin began to tug at the corners of his mouth. Suddenly, Mabel realized what he was about to do. The sneer fell from her face, replaced by look of horror.

“N-no. Dipper, no! You said you wouldn’t! Please! I’m sorry! I’ll keep helping you, I promise! Please don’t!” she tried to placate him, but his grin only grew wider.

“I’m sorry, dear sister.” He said, his tone making it clear that he was most decidedly not. “But I’m afraid that you need to…” he advanced on her as he spoke, his eyes glowing as he said the last three words directly into her mind.

_Learn your lesson._

Dipper’s eyes glowed even brighter. Mabel screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PACIFICA IS THE LLAMA AND NOBODY SHORT OF ALEX HIRSCH CAN TELL ME OTHERWISE.
> 
> Couple of things I want to address: Pacifica does not wear turtleneck sweaters like Mabel does in canon, her dress style is based on the picture found here: http://ksswolf.deviantart.com/art/Reverse-Pines-463393736 
> 
> Getting into Bill's wheel: I'm not changing anything there. Dipper is still Pine Tree, Mabel is still Shooting Star, and so on. The difference is, and I'm saying this now in case it becomes relevant later, Dipper's pine tree is the design around his amulet, which hangs from around his neck on a bolo tie like Gideon's did. Mabel's shooting star is across the top of her headband, and the star is framing her amulet. Also, Gideon will keep his brown star hat, instead of losing it like Dipper did, since he's the pentagram on the Cipher wheel. The star on his hat has an eye in the middle. 
> 
> One final thing: My reverse Mabel will not be a psychopath. Most others have made her insane and sadistic, and I acknowledge and respect this as the popular route for her character in this AU, but I will not be doing that. I've always seen Mabel as just the reverse Pacifica, but with an amulet that she has because of Dipper. So while she's going to be an arrogant bitch, she's not going to be creepy and sadistic. That's Dipper's job.
> 
> Be sure to drop me a comment if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. I will do my best to reply to all of them.


	3. Squashvine

After fruitlessly searching for the source of the explosion, Gideon and Pacifica decided to look instead for one of the creatures from the journal. There was some debate on what to pursue, spanning a barf fairy (which Pacifica wanted but Gideon refused), to floating eyeballs (which Gideon suggested but Pacifica shot down), before they both agreed on some sort of unicorn/leprechaun hybrid that the journal called a “Leprecorn.” Gideon personally thought it was dumb, but he would much rather look for Lucky Charmsicorn than a creature with both “barf” and “fairy” in its name.

They trekked through the forest, following the journal’s directions and notes on where leprecorns lived to the best of their ability, but as they were unfamiliar with the forest, they soon became lost.

“Gideon, I think we’re lost.” Pacifica pointed out unnecessarily.

“We are not lost.” Gideon snapped, before burying his nose once again in the journal. Pacifica sighed and went to sit down on a rock while Gideon scoured the journal for clues as to where they were.

 _Did I her you say you were lost?_ A voice came from behind her. She jumped and looked around. There was nothing here except for grass, trees, and a thick, twisting vine with what looked like squashes of various sizes and colors growing from it. She began to wonder if perhaps she’d imagined the voice, it hadn’t exactly seemed to be spoken aloud, after all, when a different voice cut through her thoughts once again. _Shut up, will ya?_

 _I’m sorry, Angry Squash. Were you sleeping?_ The first voice sounded again. _She just looked like she needed help, is all._

Pacifica stared in amazement at the squashvine that she had previously dismissed as normal. Was it… talking?

“Um, hello?” she asked.

 _Hi!_ A third voice chirped. Sure enough, the voices seemed to be coming from the squashes. Upon closer inspection, Pacifica saw that each had a human face.

“Who are you?” Pacifica asked hesitantly.

 _We’re basically just squashes with human faces and emotions._ Another voice said.

“Well, nice to meet you! I’m Pacifica. The guy with his nose buried in a book over there is my cousin Gideon.” Pacifica smiled brightly. The squashes each simultaneously tried to identify themselves, but she held up a hand to stop them. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop. Your faces don’t move when type talk, so I can’t tell who’s talking.” She thought for a second, then her face lit up. “I know! I’ll tap you, then you tell me who you are.” There was a collective sound of agreement, so she tapped the squash closest to the base of the vine, a small green one with an uplifted expression.

 _I’m Happy Squash_. It chirped brightly. Pacifica moved on to the next, a purplish, smallish squash with a haughty expression.

 _Disdainful Squash._ It said. Pacifica moved to the next.

 _Angry Squash._ A large red squash with its face contorted into a glare said in a voice that was almost a growl.

 _I am Concerned Squash._ Pacifica recognized this mid-sized, yellow squash with wide eyes and a small frown as the first one to have spoken, the one who had caught her attention in the first place.

 _Sad Squash._ The final squash said, its large, blue form bearing a forlorn expression. Pacifica grinned widely at them all.

“Well, nice to meet you all!” she said, grinning.

“Pacifica, who are you talking to?” Gideon’s voice said from behind her. She turned around and grinned widely at him.

“A bunch of squashes!” she called back. Gideon rolled his eyes at (what he believed to be) her silliness and went back to studying the journal. Pacifica turned back to the squashes. “So, yeah, back to the original question: Contrary to what Gideon said, yes, we are very lost.”

 _Maybe we can help. Where are you trying to go?_ Concerned Squash asked.

“We’re looking for the waterfall where leprecorns like to play.” Pacifica said.

 _Ooh, yes, leprecorns are adorable!_ Happy squash giggled. _And you’re in luck, there’s some there now._

“Really? Awesome! How do we get there?” Pacifica asked.

 _From here, go north until you reach a river. You can’t miss it_. Concerned Squash said.

 _Of course she can’t miss it, it’ll block her from going any further north._ Disdainful Squash scoffed

 _Hey, stop interrupting!_ Angry Squash growled.

 _As I was saying,_ Concerned Squash continued as though there had been no pause, _when you reach the river, follow it upstream for a quarter mile. That’s where the falls are._

“Hey, thanks!” Pacifica beamed. “Gideon! Guess what! I know how to get there!”

“What?” he asked, running over. “How?”

“I asked my new friends.” she replied happily, indicating the squashes. Gideon rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Pacifica, you realize that those are squashes, right? They can’t talk.” Gideon sighed.

 _Oh, sure, we can’t talk. No, we’re just squashes with human faces and emotions, but we can’t talk. Do you have any idea how absolutely useless that would be?_ Disdainful Squash snarked. Gideon jumped and almost dropped the journal.

“Wha-who said that?” he stammered. Pacifica giggled.

 _Who does it look like, short stack?_ Angry Squash said. Pacifica pointed again to the squashes, and Gideon’s mouth fell open.

 _Hi, Gideon!_ Happy Squash chirped excitedly. Gideon gasped.

“Wha-what are you? How do you now my name?” Gideon demanded. Pacifica could almost see Disdainful Squash roll its eyes.

 _We know your name because we’re omniscient dream demons. What do you think?_ It drawled sarcastically. _Your cousin told, us, genius._

 _Be nice, Disdainful Squash._ Concerned Squash chided. _Gideon, your cousin told us you were looking for Leprecorn Falls. We told her how to get there._ Gideon’s eyes narrowed upon hearing this.

“How exactly would you know how to get there? You’re a squash. You can’t move. I mean, no offense.”

 _None taken._ Angry Squash muttered. _Jerk._

“The point is, how do you know about, well, anything beyond here?

 _The creampuff raises some fairly good questions._ Disdainful Squash said, almost appreciatively. _Good thing we have some fairly good answers. Thing is, we aren’t just here._

“What does that mean?” Pacifica asked.

 _What you’re currently talking to is only one of our vines._ Concerned Squash clarified. _We have a network of them, spanning all under the forest, and in each place it surfaces, our “heads” grow, one per vine. And each of us has our own sort of “hive mind,” connecting all of our heads into one consciousness. Each of our brains are housed at our roots, which are in a deep, underground cave. Each squash is kind of like an extra head, letting us exist in most of the forest at once. Wherever one of our vines grows, we can see and interact with the surroundings from there._

 _That’s how I knew that there are leprecorns at the falls!_ Happy Squash chimed in. _We have a vine growing there!_

 _In addition to that, look closer at our vine._ Concerned Squash said. _Notice how it seems all twisted? That’s because it is. We aren’t the same plant. We each have our own different roots and vines._

 _So that means I’m not actually connected to these idiots._ Disdainful Squash said. _Our vines are all tangled up, meaning we all are, for all intents and purposes, connected. Where one of our vines grow, the rest follow. So while I’m stuck with an annoyingly overoptimistic roommate for all eternity, at least I’m still technically my own squash._

 _I will take that as a compliment!_ Happy Squash said cheerily.

 _Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Follow our directions and you’ll see for yourselves._ Disdainful Squash said.

“Alright!” Pacifica giggled. “So, north from here, then follow the river?”

 _Correct._ Concerned Squash replied.

“Awesome. Just one question.” Pacifica grinned sheepishly.

_Sure, what’s that?_

“Which way’s north?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, because of all the italics, I'm using the rich text option instead of HTML. So if you notice any format errors, please let me know.  
> Also, please tell me what you think of the Squashes! I was looking through revealed journal pages, and thought, hmmm, which entry would be most fun to write in as Gid and Paz's supernatural friend? Alex Hirsch didn't leave a whole lot to go off of with them, so it's really an open playground for me to develop their character(s). If you have any questions, feel free to ask.


	4. Party

“That was fun.” Pacifica laughed as they made their way back from the falls. True to the squashes’ word, they had arrived at the river and followed it to the leprecorns’ playground. They had even seen (and greeted) the squashvine that the Happy Squash had mentioned would be there.

“You have a very odd definition of ‘fun.’” Gideon muttered. He had personally found the leprecorns to be rather annoying. “All they did was spout gibberish. I wrote it down,” he said, turning to a previously blank page in the journal. “I mean, ‘Matm khngw anftg ehhdl ebdx t ytm utur ytbkr. Matm hgx atl atbk ftwx hy zhew!’ makes no sense. What is that supposed to mean?”

“Did it occur to you that perhaps magical leprechaun ponies might not speak English?” Pacifica deadpanned. Gideon glared at her.

“Pacifica, some of those words don’t even have vowels in them.” He said, shutting the book and continuing back to the Shack. Pacifica merely rolled her eyes and followed.

 

-

 

They found their way back to the Mystery Shack without any problems, and without even needing to stop and ask directions from the vegetation. As they entered, they noticed a well-dressed young man with neatly combed hair sitting behind the cash register. He nodded slightly at them in greeting, and said, “You must be Pacifica and Gideon. My name is Robert Valentino, but please just call me Robbie.”

“Okay, then! Hi, Robbie!” Pacifica said, always happy to meet someone new.

“Ah, good. Everyone’s here.” Bud said, entering the shack followed by a large man wearing a green polo with an upturned collar. “Pacifica, Gideon, this is Thompson, our handyman. And I see you’ve already met our cashier, Robbie.”

“Hi, guys,” the man, Thompson, said in a wavering voice that sounded as though he was unsure about something. What there was to be unsure about, Gideon had no idea, as all he had done was greet them. Perhaps this was just how Thompson always sounded.

“I have an announcement to make.” Bud said, calling the attention back onto himself. “To celebrate y’all’s coming to visit, I’m throwing the most inexpensive party money can buy! Well, inexpensive for me, I mean.” He chuckled lightly, before continuing, “Not for the guests. Parties are a great way to make money.”

“Ah, good to know you can find a way to turn our visit into a way to make some easy money.” Gideon muttered. Pacifica elbowed him.

“Hey, a party is a party. Ooh! Will there be cute boys there?” She asked, eyes wide.

“There most certainly might be, young lady, so you’d best trot yourself upstairs and get ready.” Bud said, smiling fondly at his niece’s antics. The aforementioned girl squealed and ran for the stairs. Bud turned his gaze to Gideon. “And you too, Gideon. I know you ain’t one much for parties, but you know that Pacifica is just going to drag you into socializing so you may as well look presentable.”

Gideon nodded slightly in acknowledgement before following Pacifica upstairs.

 

- 

 

The ringing was deafening. Three dark figures loomed over a small girl. All she could feel was pain. Pain and their disappointment. Pain _because_ of their disappointment.

“Help… me…” she said, but there was nothing there to hear her.

Nothing but the ringing of bells.

 

Mabel jerked awake with a start. Her amulet illuminated her otherwise dark room. She sat up, wondering what had roused her. Not that she minded, her sleep hadn’t exactly been restful. This happened _every time_ Dipper did that…

Mabel’s phone buzzed, drawing her attention. She picked it up, revealing two new texts. She suspected that had been what had awoken her to begin with.

_Party at the Mystery Shack tonight, you going to be there?_ Grenda, her bodyguard, had texted at first, then seconds later had followed with, _Oh wait, Candy says that wasn’t a request and you NEED to be there._

Mabel rolled her eyes and was about to reply when another text came in. _She also says to drag Dipper along._

**_That’s not going to happen. Nobody can get my brother to do anything he doesn’t want to do._** Mabel replied hastily. She set her phone aside and waited for the response.

_Unless you tell him that Wendy’s going to be there. Which she is._ Came Grenda’s reply. Mabel sighed.

**_I suppose I won’t have any problems then, will I?_** She texted back.

_Awesome. See you then._ Grenda returned. 

Mabel laid back in her bed once more, levitating her phone so that it landed on her desk. Perhaps this party would be good. She was always one for a party, and besides, it was amusing to watch Dipper’s perpetually failing attempts of wooing their manager. It was especially fun to watch at parties, he always went all out to try to impress her. Last time, he’d tried raising the dead. The time before that, he’d cloned himself. Mabel wondered what would happen this time.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Deep apologies for the lateness (and shortness) of this chapter. I came down with a case of the finals, and since then my schedule has become so erratic that I can no longer guarantee weekly updates. Meh, I lasted three weeks.
> 
> However, while I can no longer have a set schedule for updates, this also means that updates may actually come more frequently. Basically, they'll just be up as fast as I can write them.


	5. Sparks

“Nothing is going to happen this time.” Dipper growled.

Mabel had, as per Grenda’s request, approached her brother about going to the party. Unsurprisingly, he had seemed to be about to decline when Mabel offhandedly mentioned that Wendy would be there. She had snickered as he immediately agreed, and he’d even gone so far as to preen himself for the party more than she had. Dipper had ways of controlling her, but she had her own ways of controlling him. Hers just happened to be slightly more orthodox.

“I never said anything would.” Mabel said boredly, watching from Dipper’s bed as he compulsively straightened his bolo tie and fixed his hair for the umpteenth time. “Just because the last, what, ten parties, I think? No, only nine. Just because the last nine parties that you attended ended in some disastrous, supernatural attempt to impress Wendy doesn’t mean that this one will.”

Dipper started to retort, but Mabel cut him off. “Ugh, just meet me outside when you’re done. I’ll be waiting with Wendy. She’s driving. Normally our chauffeur would, that is literally what he is paid to do, but I seem to recall that _somebody_ had a little disagreement with him.”

Dipper snorted derisively. “He was asking for it. Besides, he survived. Mostly.”

“Whatever.” Mabel said, and stalked out of his room. Dipper’s eyes glowed and the door slammed shut behind her.

 

-

 

“All right, y’all, party’s getting started!” Bud called through the attic door. “Come on out!”

Pacifica shot through the door, squealing, and darted down the stairs. Bud laughed as Gideon emerged from the room as well.

“Does that girl ever lose momentum?” Bud asked, smiling. Gideon ignored him and followed his cousin downstairs. Bud sighed and leaned against the doorframe. That boy could hold a grudge, he’d give him that. He shrugged it off. Gideon would come around. Eventually. Probably. For now, he had partygoers to scam.

 

-

                                                                                                                                                                   

By the time Gideon arrived in the room where the party was being held, Pacifica had already dominated the dance floor. Gideon merely pulled the journal from his jacket pocket and went to sit down on a chair. He was just opening it when a hand tapped him on the shoulder. Looking up, he saw a small Asian girl with glasses, with a rather large girl standing behind her. He closed the journal again and turned to face them.

“Can I help you?” Gideon asked.

“I’m sorry, but that seat is taken. Please find another.” The Asian girl said in a soft, accented voice.

“Taken? By whom?” Gideon asked.

“That does not matter. What does matter is that you move.” The girl replied, her voice becoming less soft, but still just as accented.

“Well, I don’t exactly think there are assigned seats here, so whoever you’re saving this seat for can just go find somewhere else to sit.” Gideon said, sounding a lot braver than he felt. After all, the girl behind the petite Asian was _rather_ large. But this was Gideon’s dad’s party. He was fairly sure that these girls wouldn’t try to cause trouble here.

The girl squinted at him unnervingly. “You must be new in town. ‘Whoever’ we are saving a seat for will not simply go and find a new seat. She is too important to bother doing that.”

“Yeah, move before I make you move.” The large girl said in an eerily deep voice.

Before Gideon could respond, however, Pacifica bounced up to them. “Hey, cuz! Making friends already? See, I told you it was easy!”

The Asian girl scoffed. “Hardly. This boy is refusing to cooperate. We only wanted him to move so that Miss Gleeful can have a seat when she arrives. Simple.”

Pacifica frowned. “Why is this Miss Gleeful so special that she can’t go find some other chair?”

A snide laugh sounded from behind the large girl. “Now that is one sentence that I never expected to hear.”

The two girls jumped and stepped aside, revealing a girl wearing a smirk and a powder blue headband. “Mabel!” the large girl said, and she and the small girl rushed to stand behind her. “We tried to save you a seat, but this boy wouldn’t listen.”

“It’s not surprising. They don’t know any better.” The newcomer, Mabel, said as if they were toddlers who had just done something foolish. “Gideon and Pacifica are new to Gravity Falls. I’m sure if they knew who we were, they’d listen.”

“Wait, what? How’d you know our names?” Pacifica asked. Mabel rolled her eyes.

“Easy. I’m psychic.” She replied, as if it should be obvious. “I read your mind.”

“Or, she read that large banner that says, “Welcome to Gravity Falls, Gideon and Pacifica.” Gideon put in, pointing at a large banner hanging on one of the walls. Mabel sneered at him.

“Whatever. I’m so done with this. Move it, cotton swab.” Mabel demanded. Pacifica crossed her arms.

“No. Go find another seat. Gideon was here first.” Pacifica said, staring heatedly into Mabel’s eyes. Mabel glared right back, her fists clenching. The staring contest stretched on for almost a full minute, each refusing to back down. It must have been a trick of the light, but at several points Gideon could almost swear that Mabel’s eyes briefly flashed the same jade color as the gemstone on her headband, but each time it was gone before he could get a proper look.

“You know what?” Mabel eventually said. “Fine. Keep your stupid seat. I’ll cut you some slack since you’re new here.” She broke eye contact with Pacifica and looked at Gideon. “And Gideon? I have to say, wow. I didn’t think anyone actually talked like that outside of shitty western flicks.” She turned around and began strutting away. “Candy, Grenda, with me.” The two followed her away without hesitation.

Pacifica collapsed into the seat nest to Gideon. “Whew, that was intense.” She exclaimed, fanning herself with her hand.

“Excuse me…” a voice came from beside Pacifica, where a dark-skinned girl with brown hair was standing. Beside her was a girl with a very pale complexion and magenta-dyed hair. “Did you just… _win_ an argument with Mabel Gleeful?”

“It appears so.” Gideon said. “Who does she think she is, anyway?”

The girls’ eyes widened. “You don’t know?” the first one said. “Wow, you really _are_ new in town. The Gleeful family is, like, the richest and most influential family in Gravity Falls!”

“The twins, especially.” The other added. “Dipper and Mabel Gleeful practically have the whole town wrapped around their little finger!”

“Wait, there’s two of them?” Gideon asked. The girls nodded and pointed at a young man who was wearing a powder blue suit, talking to a redheaded woman who looked either bored or laid-back, or possibly both. He did indeed bear a strong resemblance to Mabel.

“Yeah. Together they’re the Telepathy Twins.” Said the first girl. “Mabel wasn’t kidding about the whole psychic thing. They run the Tent of Telepathy. The entire town loves the act. Experts have come from, like, everywhere to see how they do it. Nobody can tell. It’s like they really are psychic!”

“Not just the townspeople love it, either.” Said the other. “The police, the mayor, anyone with any sort of power is under the Gleefuls’ thumb. They basically own the entire town.”

“So what about those girls that follow Mabel around like they’re her dogs or something? Candy and Grenda, right?” Gideon asked. The two girls sighed.

“Living proof that the Gleeful twins haven’t always been so popular.” One girl said.

“Yeah, Candy and Grenda would be the biggest losers in the town if it weren’t for the Gleefuls.” Said the other girl. “Mabel was friends with them since forever. She and Dipper used to be unpopular too, you know. Always getting picked on. Mabel had braces, and Dipper was really just the weird, creepy nerd who was always obsessing about supernatural crap. Naturally, Mabel was friends with the other two most picked on girls. Small town, you know, guilds form.

“Well, one summer, I think when the twins were about twelve, the Tent of Telepathy opened up out of nowhere. Didn’t get much of a following at first, it was just a couple of cute kids doing magic tricks. Well, when nobody, not even expert critics and master magicians could figure out their secrets, the whole air of mystery started to draw more people in. They got all rich and famous. And instead of leaving their old friends behind, they dragged them up with them. Anyone who was nice to the Gleeful twins, and by that I mean anyone who was unpopular, rose up to the top. Anyone who happened to poke fun at Mabel’s ugly metal teeth once or twice, well, they-…”

“We.” Her friend muttered angrily.

“Suddenly wound up with a lot less friends.” The girl said sadly.

“Like, you see that redhead that Dipper’s talking to?” the other girl asked. “That’s Wendy. She used to be just Manly Dan the lumberjack’s only daughter, a nobody, really, but when the twins got all popular, she managed to score a position as their manager, since she used to work the cash register at their great uncle’s auto shop.”

“So basically, yeah, that’s the whole story. The Gleeful brats got all rich and popular, and now the entirety of Gravity Falls bends to their every whim. This is the first time in, like, forever that I’ve seen Mabel not get what she wants.”

 

-

 

“So, what’s the big emergency that made me just _have_ to be here?” Mabel asked Candy once she was out of earshot of those pathetic cousins.

“Oh, right.” Candy said. “Well, Wendy and I were talking, and we agreed that in recent months, you and your brother have been seen significantly less often at events. Outside your shows, you’re never really seen by the public.” She looked at Mabel as if she expected her to come to the same conclusion that she had.

“So?” Mabel asked.

“So?” Grenda demanded. “You know that Candy and Wendy are always telling you that public appearances are critical! Without them, you and Dipper are just two faces on a stage! Where have you been?”

Mabel pursed her lips. It seemed her absences due to Dipper’s “extracurricular activities” had not gone unnoticed. “Dipper’s been working on a project, and I’ve been helping him with it. It’s nothing, when we finish then it’ll be back to normal.”

Candy scrutinized her, then reluctantly said, “Fine. What is this project, anyway? Perhaps we can help?”

“You’d have to ask Dipper, but I doubt he’d let you.”

“Doubt I’d let her do what?” Dipper asked, emerging from his conversation with Wendy

 _Apparently, your little quest for Journal 1 is getting in the way of us making “public appearances.” Candy wants to know if she can help you with the project so that we can go back to being perfect little celebrities._ Mabel told Dipper.

 _Absolutely not._ He replied. _The Journals are a matter of utmost secrecy._

Mabel turned back to Candy. “Sorry, but looks like my brother prefers that we keep this strictly a family matter.”

“Ugh, did you two do that whole psychic conversation thing again?” Grenda asked. “I always feel left out when you do that.”

“Get over it.” Dipper said, stalking away. “And don’t ask to help again.”

“Where are you going?” Mabel asked, more out of curiosity than concern.

“Anywhere that you aren’t.”

 

-

 

Dipper was fuming. Just because his sister had chosen to let Brains and Brawn ride on their coattails, did _not_ mean that they were allowed to assume that they had any control over him. So _what_ if he took his sister away from the oaf and midget more times than they liked? She was _his_ sister, _his_ property. He could do what he liked.

That wasn’t the only thing that Dipper was at odds with. He’d seen Mabel’s little spat. And her moment of weakness. Dipper was in his sister’s head more often than she realized, and he knew full well that her letting the blonde brats win was not due to the fact that they were new.

 _But if it wasn’t that…_ the irritating voice in his head asked, _then what **was** it?_

Ah, yes. The voice. It had been there for as long as Dipper had his amulet. He knew that Mabel didn’t have it, as he had both looked in her head and asked her outright, but Dipper could not seem to get rid of it. First he’d tried yelling at it, then bargaining with it. For the past year and a half, he’d been steadfastly ignoring it.

_Course you can’t get rid of me, kid. What fun would that be?_

Dipper found a seat and gazed out at the partygoers. There was that irritating blonde pest, doing some sort of dance that involved hopping across the floor on her hands. The white-haired boy, with his nose buried in some book. He vaguely recognized it, and was about to peer into the boy’s mind to see why when something caught his eye.

Wendy. She was talking to the stuck-up nerd who worked at this dump. Robert, Dipper thought his name was. Regardless, the dweeb said something, and Wendy laughed. She _laughed_.

_Ooh, lookie there. Your redheaded manager girl is talking to some other dude. Maybe you ought to do what other primates do in this situation: establish an air of dominance. Go ahead, throw your poop at him._

Dipper continued ignoring the voice.

_Yeah, you’re right. It’s not like he’s, I don’t know, touching her or anything. I mean, if he put his arm around her shoulders, then **that** would be cause for alarm. Oh, look, he just put his arm around her shoulders._

Dipper’s eyes narrowed, then glowed. The cup of Pitt Cola that Robert was holding exploded in a flash of teal light. He yelped as the drink spilled all over his nice clothes. Wendy’s eyes widened, and she searched the crowd. Her eyes met Dipper’s and she glared.

_Uh-oh, looks like Red saw your little amulet-aura. You’re in trouble now._

Dipper looked away from Wendy, both in an attempt to seem innocent and get the voice to be quiet. Neither of them worked.

_Looks like you’re out of luck, kid. Red’s going to be mad at you. Maybe she’ll run away with the nerd, raise nice, prosperous family of nerdy little redheads and forget about you completely._

“Shut up.” Dipper growled at the voice. He turned to glare at his sister, who was still talking with her stupid friends. It took him all of three seconds to realize his mistake.

 _He said “shut up” to me._ The voice said giddily. _Glad to have you back, Pine Tree._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BONUS DUCKS TO ANYONE WHO CAUGHT MY SUPERNATURAL REFERENCE
> 
> Apologies, I know that I haven't updated in a while. That's due in part to very little time and in part to the writer's block that I have only recently been cured of. Plus, I have most of the story's plot outlined, I have for a while now, it's just the details that have been killing me. Ah, well, it's up now. Hope you enjoyed!


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